Josiah’s class went on field trip this week to a nearby rodeo. I went along and I’m so glad I did. Josiah was not real impressed with the cattle roping or bull riding. Even the mutton busting did nothing for him. He was not interested in the hot dog lunch that was provided. He had little desire to walk around the place. Overall, I doubt Josiah would rank this as one of his top 10 days. That is, until he spotted the carnival rides.

Allow me to provide some background here. Josiah is not into rides. Never has been. Years ago, we took him to a nearby outdoor amusement park. He wasn’t happy. We boarded the train ride, thinking he might enjoy it. We were wrong. Josiah screamed and shrieked and bellowed so loudly I really thought I was going to have to jump off with him in my arms, midway through the ride.

While in the midst of the chaos, still on the train, I called Rick at work. I asked him to please come and bail us out. He’s such a wonderful, caring husband and father. He did. Rick left his job, came and picked up Josiah and took him home. Apparently, Josiah was so upset he kicked the back of Rick’s seat and pounded hard against the glass window with his fists while screaming, all the way home.

I was spared that fun because I stayed at the park with the other kids. Since then, we have steered clear of any type of amusement ride with Josiah. He is NOT amused by them. So, you can imagine my surprise, when Josiah grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the carousel ride the other day.

He saw those horses going up and down, around and around and he wanted on. He pushed through some people waiting in line and stared longingly while trying to patiently wait his turn. I gave the man a ticket for Josiah and we walked towards the ride. Josiah climbed up the platform, took one close up look at the horses and tried to bolt.

I scooped him up and plopped his body down on the closest one. He clung to my neck, trying to slide down. I encouraged him, praised him, held him tightly and prayed it would start moving soon. Of course, I wasn’t counting on the fact that when the carousel moved, the horse Josiah was sitting on would move also.

It did though. Up and down, up and down and with it, my neck tightly secured in Josiah’s grasp. I literally had to stand on my tip toes each time the horse rose up, so Josiah could stay safely seated. We made it through the entire ride with no screaming, no shrieking, no bellowing.

When it was over and time to dismount, Josiah wouldn’t move. I guess he had decided he liked it after all and wanted more. I had to peel his body off the horse and drag him away. He spotted a bench on the carousel and climbed up over the back of it to sit down. He wanted to ride this thing again.

I scooped him up and we exited the gate. He ran right back to the line and in a moment we moved with the small crowd through the entrance and onto another horse. Josiah rode the carousel 4 times. I’m still amazed.

He even rode a motorcycle ride, all by himself. I helped strap him in and then left to wait outside the gate with the other parents. He stayed in his seat, even though the strap wasn’t designed to secure tightly around his waist and he could have gotten out quite easily. He really enjoyed going around and around and ever so slowly up and down small bumps on the motorcycle ‘trail’.

I captured the entire thing on camera. I snapped pictures and took video and stood there with my mouth wide open, astonished my little boy was having so much fun at an amusement park. I have one picture of Josiah waiting in line, standing with his hands on the gate, staring longingly at the motorcycle ride.

For a brief moment, I felt like a mom with a typically developing child who was just out having a fun afternoon with her little boy. ‘The Child Whisperer’  (Josiah’s Special Ed. teacher) was there, but she wasn’t with us when Josiah so readily sought out these rides. It was just him and me..

I will treasure the memories of that day. I will relish the fact Josiah is branching out a bit. He’s starting to try new things. He’s becoming a bit more bold, a bit more adventurous. What a thrill.

I’m hoping my husband will think so too, when the new carousel is installed in Josiah’s bedroom.